


The Way You Said It

by ghiblitears



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alcohol, Ficlet Collection, Fluff and Angst, Huddling For Warmth, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Saying I Love You, Space Bars, Tumblr Prompt, heed the tags, in a couple of the prompts, it's gonna be a mixed bag here, keith's cabin of angst, nunvil gets you wine drunk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2018-05-01
Packaged: 2019-02-01 02:33:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12695340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghiblitears/pseuds/ghiblitears
Summary: Matt, Keith, and some "I love you"s.(Based on a prompt list on tumblr)





	1. no. 18 - from very far away

**Author's Note:**

> I found [this prompt list](http://trash-by-vouge.tumblr.com/post/132858041745/the-way-you-said-i-love-you) last night and something in it grabbed me. It's a bit weird for me - for as long as I've been writing and reading fic I've shied away from writing the words "I love you", even in my original fiction. Somehow when I read these, Keith and Matt popped into my head.
> 
> With that, a 500-ish word ficlet got written.
> 
> There will be a couple more of these, hence the multi-chapter format, and they probably won't be more than a thousand words at max. I hope you like them!

Keith is no stranger to loneliness.

 

He wishes that weren’t the case, but it’s an unfortunate and inevitable result of a rushed childhood and a tumultuous adolescence meeting now, years later. He can pinpoint the source, at least, and takes some solace in that. People have come into his life and walked out time and again, and he learned early to cope with it. To understand that not everyone would be around all the time.

 

Somehow falling in with a rebel fighter in another star system has made his way of coping that much harder.

 

Keith looks down at Matt’s face, slightly blurry through the holographic filter. “I miss you,” he says. The image flickers slightly in the smooth metal frame, rendering the object of his affections less-than-perfectly.

 

Matt’s smile betrays sadness, betrays tiredness, betrays the longing Keith knows all too well. “I miss you too.”

 

His thumb distorts the image where it rests on the screen, and he moves his hand back to clear it. Small patterns like waves follow his touch, ripple across the image like the breaking tide. “When this is over, I’ll come back for a bit. To help. And to see you.”

 

It’s not much in the way of reassurance — the war has a tight grip on them all, and Keith doesn’t want to make promises he can’t keep. But Matt nods once, shortly, and relaxes slightly at his words.

 

“I can’t wait,” he says, and smiles, and Keith’s breath catches around the way his words soften. “There’s so much to tell you that I can’t explain over video. We did so much, Keith. We  _saved_ so much.”

 

 

Matt looks like he wants to say something more but catches himself, and his eyes flicker away briefly before they come back to Keith. He can tell by the video feed’s background that Matt has snuck away to a corner of the castle where he won’t be bothered; maybe even one of the ones they used to hide in when they’d wander the halls late at night. It became routine for them to quell their nightmares that way, and Keith can feel the dark circles under his eyes that announce their resurgence here.

 

“I heard a little bit,” he admits, leaning forward to rest his chin on his hands. “About the battle. You guys were amazing.”

 

They sit in silence for a moment, just listening to each other’s breathing in easy silence. Keith closes his eyes.

 

Matt’s words at first are so soft he can barely make them out. When he does understand them, his heart catches in his chest the way his breath did before;

 

“I love you.”

 

Keith’s eyes fly open to see Matt, pink around the edges and faintly glowing. Keith’s hands tingle, his eyes prick with emotion. It’s been a very long time since anything in his life has been this sweet. Too long.

 

Keith can barely contain the lightness in his chest, but he does long enough to reply;

 

“I love you too.”


	2. no. 25 - in a sigh as you fall asleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> back at it again with that good katt *pacha just right meme*
> 
> I promise these won't all just be fluff. I'll try and work some angst or action in there too. Eventually. Maybe.

Slipping around the castle as a couple was tricky. It wasn’t like they were even in the realm of doing _anything_ inappropriate (for the record), and yet, that somehow made it harder. Every kiss was stolen in a quiet corner, every hand held in nonchalance, every hug shorter than they’d like. Matt knew he wouldn’t get anywhere with Keith if the others started teasing them, so he restrained.

 

The off-chance they got to spend time together was needed, to say the least.

 

Matt also knew he was a bad sleeping buddy. He sat upright in bed, an Altean version of an e-reader propped against his knees, the screen’s light dimmed in the darkness of his room. Next to him, Keith was curled underneath the blanket, his head rested gently on the pillow against Matt’s side. He wasn’t sure yet if Keith was asleep, and didn’t want to ask for fear of waking him. But the translated Altean novel was riveting (when he could make sense of it), and he couldn’t put it down. It was a good distraction. A welcome one, after the string of hectic days they’d had, and much less boring than the reports he’d been looking over today.

 

He sighed. He’d take boredom over the fear that came hand-in-hand with an alien war, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t welcome.

 

Keith stirred slightly at the disturbance, and his dark eyes blinked open to glance up at Matt. “Still awake?” he asked, half-slurred in sleep.

 

“Yeah, sorry. I can’t seem to put this down,” he replied. He reached out with his free hand to run a hand through Keith’s silky hair and Keith’s eyes fell closed again, a small half-smile catching his mouth. He leaned into the touch, almost cat-like. Matt half-expected Keith to purr. Maybe Galra could purr? Did that extend to half-Galra?

 

“Don’t stay up too late,” Keith said, already falling back into the throes of sleep. Matt sank further into the bed and Keith’s arm snaked out to curl around his middle in response. His hand stayed in Keith’s hair, stroking softly, almost an afterthought on his part.

 

“I won’t. Promise,” he said.

 

Keith hummed. “Love you.”

 

Matt almost dropped the e-reader. His hand stilled in Keith’s hair, but he didn’t seem to notice; he’d already fallen back asleep, if the way his breaths had deepened and how his eyes had shut were any indication. Matt’s heartrate climbed, and he finally wrenched his attention away from the novel to stare down at Keith in surprise. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t suspected it. It wasn’t like _he_ hadn’t said it already, but Keith was more inclined to act rather than speak, and he’d gotten used to that. Accepting Matt’s hugs, holding his hand, catching his mouth in a dark corner when they didn’t have to hide — those were all “I love you”s to Keith.

 

 

It was the first time he’d said it aloud. The first time _ever_ , and he was goddamn asleep.

 

If that was what it took, maybe Matt should spend more nights with him.


	3. no. 28 - when i am dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt no. 28 - when i am dead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING FOR REFERENCE TO CHARACTER DEATH IN THIS ONE. 
> 
> it's right there in the prompt so it shouldn't be a surprise, but i felt the need to point it out anyway.  
> nothing graphic, but v sad  
> enjoy?

Matt had never been to the desert cabin. According to Pidge it had been their first stop after finding Shiro, and the first time they’d all been together before becoming the Paladins of Voltron. They’d all spent their last night on Earth in the cabin, not knowing they’d be leaving the planet to fight in a war the next day; a bittersweet memory for all of them, she’d recalled. It was Keith’s home.

 

Matt’s arrival didn’t have the luxury of memory. Not of coming home, at least.

 

Light filtered through the gauzy curtains, thrown against the opposite wall in lines of gold. Musty air rushed into his lungs when he inhaled, a medley of dust and decay and aridity. To his surprise, the room was well-furnished, despite the state of disrepair it had fallen into. A sofa bed was thrown against one corner and shelves stacked along the walls like totems. A large photo wall stared him in the face — a collage decorated with scribbled notes and lines of red string. The entire room was coated in a thin layer of red desert dust, and Matt turned to see the culprit; a cracked window near the door, surrounded by several small shards of broken glass.

 

And even though he’d never been there, the scene sent a small stab of pain through his chest, because Keith lingered everywhere — dregs of coffee in a cup on the table, a black t-shirt thrown over a chair, pencils and paper and pens scattered over the sidetable.  Afterimages of him, as if Matt had stared into a fire and it continued to dance before him.

 

The war had taken him far too early.

 

There was so much more to do, so many more places to go when he’d had the universe at his fingertips, the opportunity to experience more than any other person on earth, with Matt at his side to enjoy it with him — and none of it was ever going to happen. Matt’s feet dragged on the floor as he approached the photo wall, his eyes following the veins of string from image to image. He memorized each hastily written note. He reached up, fingers brushing against the word _why_.

 

“Why, indeed,” he murmured.

 

His other hand dug into the folds of his robe and pulled out the knife. The blade glittered in the dying light, the Marmoran emblem dusting his hands with lavender light. It had been the only thing they’d been able to salvage after the attack. Shiro had found it and given it to him, despite his protests. Shiro hadn’t said anything, but the sorrow in his eyes told volumes anyway.

 

The dagger’s dead weight brought him back, and he squeezed his hand around the handle to anchor himself to the present.

 

“It shouldn’t have been like this,” Matt said aloud, fresh grief blooming in his chest. It had been months since it had happened and he was no closer to closure.

 

He put the dagger down on the table —  a tribute — and stared at it for a long time. The dying light touched the blade, throwing shards of light back to him. The curtains danced in the wind, played with the stale cabin air. Matt wanted so badly to say something more, but it all felt grossly inadequate under the weight of the circumstances. Even his ‘I love you’ choked him in a way he’d never known, died in his throat before he had a chance to say it, as though the countless other times he’d said it never counted. So he looked down at the Marmora knife, and chose another truth;

 

“At least I could bring part of you home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i swear keith's shack being a source of angst is like, a running gag in my writing. it's in lacuna already and it's gonna show up in aphelion too. i should start a tag.
> 
> as always hmu @ espressopidge or @ghiblirey on tumblr


	4. no. 20 - as we huddle together, the storm raging outside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> no. 20 - as we huddle together, the storm raging outside
> 
> Keith, Matt, and a blizzard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we've delved back into fluff for the time being, and this prompt clocks in at 1400 words! for a minific that's, like, gigantic. that almost makes up for the fact that it's been two months lol
> 
> I got inspired to write this chapter after a week and a half of -30C days (that's -22 to u Fahrenheit folks) and it shows. in weather that cold all anyone wants to do is cuddle tbh
> 
> grab a cup of hot chocolate for this one, and enjoy!

Keith really, really hated the cold. It just wasn’t his element; literally, in his brief stint as a pilot of Voltron, and figuratively, in most of the other aspects of his life. He ran hot (temperature-wise) most of the time, he’d thrived under desert sun in the months he’d lived in the shack, and it didn’t take much to make his temper flare up under the right circumstances. Keith was fire, through and through.  
  
Why they’d chosen him for the mission to Crydor, he didn’t know.  
  
“I think it’s empty,” Keith’s voice echoed in the stillness of the base. He stepped through the threshold of the main entrance to what might have been a lab, though it was hard to tell under the thick layer of ice that coated everything. Wind howled through the panes of broken glass and blew in stray snowflakes, a miniature blizzard inside the otherwise calm room.  
  
It did seem abandoned — they hadn’t found any signs of Galra activity or Galra themselves in the two vargas they’d been searching, and the place was eerily quiet. There’d been no movement at all, for that matter; the only living thing in the base had been a small prey-type animal that had jumped out of a cupboard Matt was looking in to dash across his feet. Even in the seriousness of their mission, Keith was still trying not to laugh at the panicked way Matt had jumped, and then the way he’d coolly tried to brush it off. He loved to put on a front even in front of Keith, who knew who he really was underneath.  
  
They’d been sent as part of a ground team comprised partly of Blades and partly of rebels, so as not to split hairs on resources. It wasn’t often that they were assigned together, and being as busy as they were meant that most of their down time was spent sleeping or training. Even on a serious mission, Keith was glad to be with him — it was a nice to talk face-to-face instead of over a holoscreen, even if it was mission-related. They’d have time to catch up later, and that was enough to give him a warm feeling in his chest against the sharp cold that permeated the air.  
  
Across the room, Matt tapped a few buttons on a frozen computer terminal, but the screen remained black. “I don’t even think there’s anyone squatting here — it’s way too cold. The Galra were here, but they’re definitely gone by now.” He exhaled, forming a cloud of condensation in the frigid air.  
  
“ _We’ve found nothing in our search_ ,” Kolivan’s voice added through their radios. “ _You two should make your way back to the rendezvous point. There’s nothing for us here.”_  
  
“Copy that,” Keith replied.  
  
Matt pulled out his staff and poked the icy wall experimentally, sending a few icicles to shatter on the crystalline ground. “What a waste of time.”  
  
Keith shrugged. “That signal we got was probably a glitch.”  
  
“We can’t always find secret Galra operations, I guess.”

 

They began to walk back through the frozen base. The whiteout was daunting, but their tracking equipment would let them find the ship again with no trouble even with heavy snow and wind. Conditions hadn’t improved in the time they’d spent exploring Crydor, and the few exposed areas in the base made the whole place chilly. Keith’s Marmoran armour was built to withstand extreme temperatures (it had kept him safe in space, after all), but even he was beginning to feel the cold. Matt had donned a heavier coat in anticipation of the planet’s frigid temperatures, and he had his cape curled around him and a section of the hood pulled up, leaving only his eyes exposed.

 

Matt paused suddenly, his step faltering before they reached the front door. “Do you feel that?”

 

“Feel what?”

 

He peered at the doorway, dropping his gaze to the floor when he didn’t find an answer — to what, Keith didn’t know. “The ground’s shaking.”

 

It was imperceptible at first — the slightest tremor beneath his feet, the barest hint of movement across the floor of the base — but when Keith kneeled to place his palm directly on the floor it grew in intensity; a low rumbling shake in the earth.

 

In the moment that he and Matt locked eyes, they knew.

 

Matt leapt back from the door just as it exploded inward, a flood of snow crushing against the ancient metal and pushing it back into the lab. The shaking reached its peak, dislodging ice and snow from the walls and ceiling of the base and sending it crashing to the ground. Keith grabbed for Matt and caught a handful of his cloak, pulling him away from the debris.

 

The room stilled, and Keith heard Matt draw in a sharp breath. “Okay, _fuck_ Crydor.”

 

Biting his lip to stifle his laughter, Keith turned his attention to the radio. “Kolivan, are you there?”

 

“ _What happened_?”

 

“Avalanche.” Keith eyed the snowed-in door. The entranceway had housed a narrow hallway that lead to the outside — a narrow hallway that was probably packed full of snow, now. “I think it collapsed part of the base. We’re okay, but we’re trapped.”

 

“ _We’re locked on to your location. I’m sending Verlok’s team to get you out, they’ll reach you in one varga._ ”

 

“Copy that.”

 

Matt began to dust snow off his cloak, sending clouds of powder tumbling to the floor. “What now?”

 

“We wait, I guess.” Keith crossed his arms; an involuntary reaction against the sudden chill. The snow had blocked the light that came in from the reinforced windows, leaving the room dim and cold.

 

“A varga’s an hour, right? That’s not so bad.”

 

“Here’s hoping there isn’t another avalanche.”

 

Satisfied with his job, Matt curled his cloak back around him. He glanced back at Keith and frowned slightly, dark blonde brows pulling in a concerned expression. Keith didn’t want to admit it, but he still wasn’t used to the weight of those eyes on him. “You look cold.”

 

“I’m fine.” Keith resisted the urge to curl more into himself.

 

“Come here anyway.” Matt spread his arms, lifting the cloak up to reveal the jacket he wore underneath. “You’re not freezing to death on my watch.”

 

He only paused for a moment before stepping into the cloak, which Matt pulled back around to encircle both of them. “We’ll be here for an hour. Two hours, max. I won’t freeze.”

 

“Maybe not, but it’s stressing me out.”

 

Keith shrugged, and Matt pulled the cloak in tighter. In truth he didn’t mind; they were warmer together, Keith pressed flush against Matt and comfortable in his embrace. This close he felt the rise and fall of Matt’s chest as he breathed, and when he exhaled it caressed the side of his face. Matt’s arms squeezed in reassurance, and then he leaned in slightly to rest his chin on his shoulder.

 

For a moment Keith allowed himself to wonder why Matt could tell him that he loved him to his face and that was fine, but things like this still sent his pulse into overdrive?

 

Matt must have picked up on his contemplation, because after a moment of silence he asked “you good?”

Keith nodded. His arms snaked out to catch Matt’s waist. “Just starting to wonder if you somehow planned this.”

 

Matt laughed; more a tactile thing than an audible one, with how close they were. “You’re right. I went to the most horrible, frozen planet in the galaxy just so my boyfriend would hug me for a full hour. I planted explosives in the door. It was all me.”

 

“You would.”

 

“... I may have asked Kolivan if I could be on a team with you.”

 

Keith had a sudden mental image of Matt approaching the counsel of Marmora, wilting under the hard stare of Kolivan, and tried to stifle his own laughter. “Did you really?”

 

“Yup. Don’t ask me to do it again, though — he’s scary.”

 

It was surprising at the same time that it was almost expected. The fact that he asked to be assigned with Keith sent a wave of warmth through his chest, and he leaned into Matt just slightly more than he’d already been doing. “Hey, thanks.”

 

“I mean, I’m getting an extended hug out of it while you’re stuck with me. But you’re welcome.”

 

“Love you.”

 

Keith was painfully aware of the way his voice quieted around those words, how foreign they seemed to be no matter how often or infrequently he said them. It was still so alien to him to have let someone in so closely — closely enough that he had reason and want to say things like that. But Matt just turned his head to press a quick kiss to the side of Keith’s head, and that made it worthwhile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in case you picked up on it, Crydor is *that* Crydor. You know the one.


	5. no. 5 - over a beer bottle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Exams are over and I'm FREE! To celebrate, here's a prompt I've been writers' blocked on since January that I just finished tonight.  
> Does anyone else want to start drinking as soon as it gets warm? No? just me then.

Matt had left the Garrison with a reputation as an upstanding student; smart enough to have gotten early admission to the academy, and bright enough to secure a spot on the Kerberos mission only a few months later. He’d gotten on famously with his teachers, well with his fellow students, and had earned the respect of Officer Takashi Shirogane even before they were shipped off to the stars together. By his track record, it should have been easy to piece together what kind of person Matt was.

  
While the Gold Star Student thing wasn’t necessarily a lie, it was a mask for the real Matt underneath; a rule-breaker, a hacker, a rebel. It should have come as no surprise that he’d be as excited for a break to a nunvillary as he was.  
  
The bar was in full swing even before the Paladins had claimed a table for the evening, and the chaos continued around them as Matt nursed his second particularly dry glass of nunvil, which the rest of the team wouldn’t touch. (Hey, nunvil was fine once you got around the initially weird taste.) A few aliens glanced their way throughout the evening, but being out in civvies didn’t make them as noticeable as they would be normally. And even though they were celebrating, they stayed low-key.  
  
Matt clapped heartily Pidge on the shoulder, nearly sending her flying forward into the flight of glasses she’d been given when they’d sat down. “Congrats on your first ambiguously legal drink!”

  
“You can drink in Canada when you’re eighteen,” she replied, her reply muffled around a faintly glowing green concoction that smelled like raspberries and rubbing alcohol. Three more drinks of varying colours floated on the serving tray, all chosen and purchased for her courtesy of Matt and the other Paladins. She’d been adamant in her choice to go out to the nunvillary. Matt understood it, really. The fact that it had been three years since she’d left was hard to swallow. Four years, for Matt and Shiro. The idea of being in space and away from Earth this long had its effect on everyone — Pidge just preferred to soften those tough emotions the easy way.

 

No one had objected.  
  


“Parts of Canada,” Shiro corrected. He and Hunk had gotten a line of shots of some unpronounceable liquor and had each knocked back three since they’d arrived, the glasses comically small in their large hands. Hunk was adamant in the shots supposed lack of actual alcohol, but Matt could pick out a faint flush on Shiro’s face and the way his posture had slid from normal to relaxed, and knew the truth. For all his merit, Shiro was kind of a lightweight. Hunk, by comparison, was an absolute tank. Matt was kind of envious.  


  
Pidge downed the dregs of the green drink, grimacing at the aftertaste. “No one in space is going to ID us. And if they try, we’ll have to bounce, ‘cause getting exposed as a minor is a lot less bad than being exposed as Voltron.”  


  
Hunk slid over in the booth to throw his arm over her shoulders. “No one’s kicking you out of a bar tonight. It’s your birthday!”  


  
Pidge grabbed for the second glass and stared Hunk dead in the eyes. “If they try, will you fight them?”  


  
“Absolutely.”  


  
Matt grinned, the giddy effect of the nunvil starting to make itself known around the edges of his mind. It had been a solid year and a half since he’d last had a drink — no wonder his tolerance had gone down so drastically. Admittedly, it hadn’t been the best before, but he’d entertained the idea of becoming a party guy at the Garrison for a while...  


  
“No fighting, either. We’re on a break,” Shiro declared, grabbing for another shot and interrupting Matt’s wandering thoughts. Not to be outdone, Hunk reached over to pluck one off the tray as well.  


  
Off to the left of their vision, Lance had managed to pull both Allura and Coran to the dance floor despite all three of them being fully wasted. They’d integrated into the group of aliens occupying the space, and Matt only caught glimpses of them swaying and dancing to the erratic alien music. They all looked like they were having the time of their lives. Personally, Matt thought, he’d pass on dancing. Not really his style.  


  
Hunk followed his gaze and raised an eyebrow at the sight of the trio. “I thought Coran was supposed to be the designated driver?”  
  


Matt shrugged.  
  


“I’m gonna go make sure whatever he has isn’t alcoholic. Or at least alcoholic to Alteans? Whatever.” Hunk sighed and rose from the table to make his way to the dance floor. Lance let out an excited shriek when he spotted him (no doubt ready to indoctrinate him into the dance party), and Matt snorted before turning his attention back to the table. It was then that he realized they were down one person.

 

“Where’s Keith?”  
  


Shiro glanced around the room. “Didn’t he go to the bathroom like, ten minutes ago?”  
  


Matt scanned their surroundings as well, coming up empty. Keith had disappeared, leaving nothing but his jacket behind. In a place as busy as this, that wasn’t necessarily worrying, but it wasn’t like Keith to wander off in an unfamiliar situation. “I’m gonna go look for him.”  
  


“Tell him he’s missing the party,” Shiro said, and Matt shot him a grin.  
  


He knocked back the last of the nunvil and stood up from the table, grimacing at the aftertaste. The bathroom was across the bar, tucked away in a corner, and Matt had to duck and squeeze around the other patrons to get through. He figured it was the alien equivalent of a Friday night because it was absolutely packed in here, crammed with alien bodies all enjoying their evening at the space bar.

 

Heh. Space bar.

 

Matt ducked into the bathroom, but a quick glance around and a call of “Keith?” hadn’t gotten any response, so he went back out to try and spot the last member of their party. Maybe he’d gotten lost on his way back to the table. The bar, despite its size, was a veritable labyrinth in layout.

 

It was by sheer luck that he finally spotted a familiar silhouette at the bar in the process of ordering. Keith was crammed in next to two taller aliens, neither of who seemed to pay him any attention, and was having a hell of a time flagging down the bartender. The alien behind the counter looked like he was having more fun pouring fancy drinks than working.

 

Matt slid up to the bar, sidling up next to Keith and flashing his cheesiest here-to-pick-you-up smile. “Hey stranger. Come here often?”

 

He had a faint flush on his cheeks and a wild glint in his dark eyes. He had one hand braced carefully on the bar, which had held him upright when he’d whirled to face him. Matt hadn’t been paying attention to what he’d been drinking, or how much, but apparently it had been enough.

 

He abandoned his task to fix Matt with an ear-to-ear grin. Normally-stoic Keith, to Matt’s delight, was anything but around alcohol. “Matt!”

 

Matt gave him a once-over and decided he didn’t need to contribute to Keith’s inevitable hangover. “We’re waiting for you back at the table. Shiro’s already starting to get Space Drunk and I promised you I wouldn’t let you miss it.”

 

Instead of following him, Keith grabbed for his hand and started to pull him in the opposite direction. “No, come this way! I wanna show you something.”

 

Why not?

 

Matt allowed Keith to drag him through the bar. They passed several rowdy tables of aliens, all in some state of intoxication. Keith himself wasn’t much better; where he was normally steadfast and confident on his feet he now stumbled — not a lot, but enough to be noticeable. His hand stayed tangled in Matt’s as they picked their way through the crowded space.

 

Keith led Matt to a door at the back of the bar, and turned back to face him with a beaming smile.

 

The door opened out to a surprisingly beautiful balcony. Covered in plants and overlooking the planet’s landscape, it almost resembled a garden. Several other aliens lounged around on the balcony talking. A few of them had small, oblong papers between their fingers, dark and dusty and trailing smoke. Matt wrinkled his nose. Though he’d been sober for well over a year, he _was_ well acquainted with Hinter Bush. It wasn’t an experience he wanted to repeat.

 

“I saw it on my way to the bathroom. Out the door. Someone else went out here to hang out,” Keith said, propping his elbows on the railing. He swayed slightly, and Matt bit down a laugh as he settled a hand between his shoulder blades to steady him. “This planet is pretty.”

 

“Sure is,” Matt said, his eyes exploring Keith’s toned form and completely ignoring the landscape.

 

“I wish every planet was this pretty. I mean, some are, but when we’re fighting and forming Voltron we don’t really get to notice it,” he continued. He stopped short, apparently realizing the implication of his words, and glanced at the other aliens nearby. “Uh, should I keep my voice down?”

 

Matt moved his hand to Keith’s waist, pulling him in for a one-armed hug. “Yeah, maybe don’t expose us to a bunch of drunk and maybe confrontational aliens, babe.”

 

Keith looked up at him with another one of those grins. “How are you gonna shut me up, then?”

 

Well.

 

Cheeky.

 

If he was inviting, Matt was RSVP-ing.

 

He leaned in, catching Keith’s mouth on his. It admittedly wasn’t a great kiss — their teeth clacked together initially and they bumped noses before they got adjusted — but Matt decided to blame that on the alcohol. Besides, he wasn’t sure Keith could ever kiss him a way he _didn’t_ like, because even when it was messy it was always great.

 

That might have been the nunvil, too. Matt let it slide.

 

They parted, still close enough for their noses to brush. Matt was warm — due to their proximity or the liquor, he wasn’t sure — and Keith’s flush had deepened into a red fitting the former Red Paladin. His eyes shone liquid in the moonlight.

 

“I love you,” he said. “Take me back to Earth. Marry me in Vegas.”

 

Matt snorted. “Keith, you’re drunk.”

 

“ _You’re_ drunk,” he retorted.

 

“You’re not wrong about that.” He slipped his arm back around Keith’s waist. “Wanna go back to the table and watch Shiro get space wasted?”

 

The way Keith’s eyes lit up said it all.

 

***

 

“Babe, the daytime cycle just kicked on. Up and at ‘em, sunshine.” Matt rapped his knuckles against the metal wall of Keith’s room. His other hand was in a death grip around a mug of space coffee — black, which for space coffee meant a deep blue — that he took a long pull from while waiting. “There’s Tylenol and caffeine shit already brewing in the kitchen.”

 

The lump in the covers shifted the slightest bit to reveal a squinting and disgruntled Keith peering back at him. Matt swore sometimes that the light would catch those eyes sometimes and reflect back, like he had that animal trait that made eyes glow. If Keith actually did, that light would be laser-focused on him.

 

“I’m _dying_ ,” Keith whined.

 

“No one ever died from a hangover,” Matt said. He crossed the room and poked the blanket. “C’mon. Get up.”

 

 “If you bring me coffee I’ll consider it.”

 

“Give me five minutes,” Matt replied. He leaned down to press a kiss to Keith’s forehead. He swatted at the affection, a tired scowl already on his face. “I love you.”

 

“If you really loved me you’d let me sleep,” he grumbled.

 

Matt didn’t say anything, just laughed quietly and poked him again. “You’d better not be sleeping when I get back.”

 

Keith groaned, rolling over to face the ceiling. “I’m getting up. Get off my case.”

 

Matt really hoped it was gonna be a slow day, one that didn’t warrant jumping into action and forming Voltron. The way things looked, they could use it. Saving the universe from all-out war could wait for one day.

 

Maybe two, depending on the hangover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *writes fics involving alcohol to impose my headcanons on the characters*
> 
> also I have a NEW Keith-centric blog! You can follow squidkeith.tumblr.com for Keith content. Hate/discourse free and multishipping!

**Author's Note:**

> I am in too deep with these two.
> 
> hmu on tumblr:  
> ghiblirey (main)  
> espressopidge (vld only sideblog)


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